


Supernatural Meta

by Rachello344



Series: Tumblr Meta Essays [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Archived from Rachello344 Blog, Character Analysis, Meta Essays, Nonficiton, Plot analysis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 15:02:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 4,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16834975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachello344/pseuds/Rachello344
Summary: A collection of my Supernatural meta posts cross posted from Tumblr.





	1. 4 December 2013

**Author's Note:**

> Since tumblr is rapidly going down hill, I've decided to put all of my essays on Ao3. It'll probably take a while, but I'll be posting each fandom's essays in their own work to collect them all in one place.

I just want to share my own optimistic hypothesis for the next half of the season:

Full on war with Metatron. None of the, “there’s an ongoing invisible war in heaven that Cas is leading" No. This time, we watch as Cas leads any angels he can gather to his side against Metatron. Dean, fighting by Castiel’s side, leads any hunters willing to risk it all. And then, the coup de gras: Abbadon or Crowley leading the forces of hell against Metatron. (There is no one who stands as more of a threat to Abbadon’s plans than Metatron, and she is SMART, no way she ignores the fight. Not when she can lord it over Dean’s head. Not when she can use it to ensure her place on the throne. Risk of double-cross: High. She’ll do whatever it takes to ensure her survival.)

They will, of course, pull Gadriel to their side, offering redemption and guidance and allowing him to go on without killing, maybe. Let him be a healer to make up for his killing Kevin.

I just want to watch them lead a war, let them use everything they’ve learned so far in their final fight.

(No one can convince me that Metatron is not the Final Boss of this video game. No one. That man has been planning this since he WROTE THE DAMN TABLETS. He has been planning to overthrow heaven since the beginning and he has been playing EVERYONE for fools. That man is the Big Bad of this show, more cunning and insidious than Lucifer, more powerful than Michael, more calculating than Naomi, more ruthless than Abbadon… He is the Ultimate Evil of this show and I will stand by that to my dying days.)

I look forward to whatever the next half of the season brings us. As long as we have a, frankly, terrifying villain, I think we’ll do alright.


	2. 16 January 2014

luciferwearsamwinchester and I came up with a great potential ending for Supernatural at lunch today. I think this one is probably the best option (although that is obviously up for debate. It’s at least one of two).

Sam finally convinces Dean to let him finish the trials once and for all, sacrificing his life one last time and dying a hero. Dean and Sam share one final hug, before Dean lets go. And when Sam dies, he is finally free.

Cut to the pyre, Dean and Cas standing side by side, mourning the loss of Sam, this time for good. The camera zooms back to show Dean and Cas against a backdrop of flames before panning to focus in on their hands. As we watch, they reach out and take hold. And on that shot, Dean and Cas holding hands before Sam’s pyre, we fade to black and cue the credits.

I just feel like that would be best for everyone. Sam gets his freedom. It is implied that Dean and Cas will continue hunting together (maybe even _together_ together, depending on how the handholding is read). The show would finally feel… done. There would be closure.

I feel like this was the ending they tried for in Swan Song, but we didn’t get a funeral for Sam or a proper ending for Dean. This, I think, would be ideal.

Alternately, Sam survives and goes on to be a Man of Letters properly, settling down with a wife, kids, and a few dogs, while Dean and Cas travel the world hunting. Either option is good with me.

As I feel the show winding down, I’m not sure which ending we’re heading towards, but it’s probably one of the two. (There aren’t really any other endings left, after all.)


	3. 21 January 2014

I’m pretty sure the BLATANT DESTIEL PARALLEL WITH CAIN is gonna be analyzed to death (and I will reblog any I find), so I’m not going into it outside of WHOA YES ANOTHER STEP ON THE ROAD TO CANON.

What I wanna talk about is what the mark of Cain is gonna mean and kick-start. Because the mark was given to Cain by Lucifer before Cain was trained as a Knight and told to go train other Knights. He excelled at this before being brought back to righteousness by a woman who loved him unconditionally. (I am not going to talk about the parallel more than this.)

Cain mentioned that he was MADE into a demon. Lucifer made him go darkside, possibly through, I don’t know, a mark on his arm? That is transferrable to other Righteous People liable to going darkside? Like, say, Dean?

Basically, what I’m saying is that, this time, the mytharc (all Dean’s for a change) could very well lead to some (temporary) Demon!Dean. And as we all know, the only thing to break that kind of hold over someone is a Profound Bond/romantic love. So, not only will we maybe get to watch Dean kill Abaddon as a demon himself, as Alastair’s best and brightest, but we could also get an explicit Destiel scene in which Cas pulls Dean back into Righteousness.

I could be wrong, but this is now a DEFINITE possibility and I am really looking forward to finding out through the rest of the season!

Here’s looking forward to a great season! Cheers!


	4. 10 March 2014

Okay, so I was just thinking about Castiel’s main problem being “too much heart” and how that could actually have some foreshadowing attached.

Because, while _I_ have always associated Dean with the Scarecrow, TPTB decided to parallel him with the Tin Man (“[he] didn’t make it”). TPTB decided to call Dean Winchester the Tin Man, the man with a heart who believes he doesn’t have one. And when I remembered that “too much heart was always Castiel’s problem,” well. Can you see why I may have made a leap of logic?

In fact, missing a heart and too much heart would add up to perfectly normal heart levels. So if you take Dean and Cas who have those problems in canon, stated explicitly (heavily implied for Dean), well, they’d really just complete each other, wouldn’t they? Because, really, there isn’t such a thing as too much heart. And anyone can see that Dean has more than his fair share. So together, they could be their best selves. Balanced.

Based on this, I think my optimism with regards to canon Destiel (again, implicit or explicit) is pretty well founded. And I am truly sorry if you aren’t with me yet. They need time to do it right and, while I am impatient, I don’t want to rush them. I want this to be done _well_ more than I want it to be done at all.


	5. 14 May 2014

Okay, I was just going to leave it alone for someone more experienced to handle, but I am really still stuck on all the Indiana Jones references and, frankly, The Last Crusade is one of my all-time favorite movies. So, I’m going to be talking a bit about the connections there.

First off, some movie relationships background for those not in the know: Indiana Jones does not have a very good relationship with his father, Henry. He was in constant training from a young age (his father taught him, like, 20 languages, okay; like “Junior you can only talk to me if you count to twenty–in ____” happened in the beginning of this movie). During this training, Henry was on a quest to find something that was more important to him than anything else: The Holy Grail. This took precedence over all things, even, at times, his own son.  
When the movie starts, Indiana receives a package, a notebook, from his father and finds out that he hasn’t been seen in a while and someone has been searching his apartment.  
Indiana recognizes the clues left by his father and realizes that he’s picked up the trail–he follows after him. We later learn that Henry wanted Indiana to stay out of it, safe, with the notebook, but that doesn’t really matter outside of the fact that he loved his son, but was bad at the fatherhood thing (and no mom to help out, either).

If you’ve made it this far, you may have noticed something. Like, Indiana and his father seem a lot like Dean and John if Sam hadn’t been born. (There is a sort of bonus in that Indiana was _**the dog’s**_ name–Indiana was actually named after his father.)

Basically, Dean Winchester has a lot in common with Indiana Jones. (If anyone wants me to make the comparison more explicit, let me know, but I think I’ve covered my bases.) Now, onto the movie that was _explicitly_ referenced today, The Last Crusade. I’m going to be focusing on the climactic finale, so spoiler warning and whatnot.

The three challenges that Indiana faces, while his father is held at gunpoint, are: The Breath of God, The Word of God, and The Path of God. We saw the breath, “only the penitent man shall pass” (interesting that Cas would have been killed by this trap only a few episodes ago, saved only by the actions of the man who set the traps, ensuring that no angel _but Castiel_ could really get that far—who knows how the extra crispy got there).

After the breath comes the word—Indiana must spell the name of God, Jehovah, but! The letter J was actually the letter I in the language used. The final test, the path, is literally a leap of faith. You cannot see the path, but must assume that it’s there. He does and makes it to the grail, guarded by a man seeking death.

One of the bad guys who’d been following after Indiana searches for the grail amongst a lot of gorgeous cups. He chooses the most splendid of them all, greedy for riches and eternal life. This man dies horribly. Indiana shakes his head and chooses the correct cup, a simple, humble thing—Jesus was a carpenter; he could never afford something so fancy.

The guard raises his sword and Indiana either shoots him or takes the sword and runs him through, finally able to die, the guard thanks Indiana and fades into dust (the grail grants eternal life, not eternal youth). Indiana leaves with the grail and hands it over to the people holding his father at gunpoint and they begin to leave, the temple begins to fall in around them.

The cup falls down into a crevice after the floor opens up. The fanatical woman who’d led the expedition goes after it along with Henry. She falls to her death in pursuit of the grail. Indiana reaches for his father, has one hand, and it looks like he’s going to die for the grail. But! In the nick of time, he chooses his family over his obsession and they leave together. It’s suggested that, while their relationship is still rocky, it’s less antagonistic and all ends well for people who aren’t Nazis.

Basically, what I’m saying is that Dean is going to fall into Henry’s role for a little while, but inevitably choose life over his obsession and work on fixing the relationship he has with Sam. I also wanted to point out that this is the movie about the quest for the grail because I have read meta about the grail possibly coming up soon and, well, it’s looking more likely by the day.

* * *

Okay, one more thing and then I’m done.

People are reading Metatron a bit differently than I am–that’s really normal actually because I unabashedly adore the asshole–and I wanted to put my two cents out there.

Basically, Metatron is _totally aware_ of Destiel. I mean, really? Dude can’t read as many books as he has and not pick that up. Like, wow. And that look on is face? That smarmy smile that says, “let’s share in the joke–Castiel is in _love_ … with humanity. lololololol" He knows _all_ about what’s going on there. I mean, Gabriel-adjacent commented on it! Gabriel-adjacent was _following Metatron’s script_. Metatron knows.

Another thing that interests me is that Metatron, the story guy, is touching on _every villain trope there is_. "I’m going to impersonate the hero to poison the well against him." "I’m going to try and convince his love interest that he’s going bad." "I’m going to point out all of the heroic tropes that Castiel fits with and really paint him as the hero of this book.”

I don’t understand Metatron’s game. I mean, he is basically a comic book villain. Cheesy, over the top, filled with lame riddles and ultimatums. I mean, I _predicted the video call_. I was watching and mentioned as they walked into the main room, “What, is he going to be on the viewscreen?” and _he was_. He was literally playing a villain from sci-fi–pick any villainous captain from Star Trek, I dare you. Name one that doesn’t give some ultimatum over the view screen, testing the hero and his people’s loyalty.

He’s hitting on every trope I can think of and, a guy who reads like Metatron? He _has to know._ I just don’t know why he would choose to play the villain. And he’s playing villain _so well_.

Does he think that he can lure God back if he screws everything up enough? Is he really out for revenge? _What does he want? Who is he, really?_


	6. 21 May 2014

Metatron is still in the game. His story is still running on. A story of “love and heartbreak… and love." Well, from what I can see? We’ve only hit on the first two:  
"He’s in love… with humanity” and saving Dean instead of keeping his followers.  
“He’s dead, too." Heartbreak and loss in one short line.  
But we’re still missing the final bit of Love. The Love that will redeem Dean, bring him back from the edge, save him. Colette’s love was enough to save Cain, so one final shot of (Cas’s) love should be enough to save Dean.

Metatron’s story isn’t over. Not by a longshot. And he’s not dead, meaning he can continue his work, prison sentence or no.

What I’m getting at here is, what was Metatron’s goal? What was his purpose? What was the endgame of the story he was writing? I suspect we’re going to find out very soon. And I have a feeling whatever the twist, it’ll come as a surprise. After all–he’s just a nerd trying to be popular. When has anyone ever considered him a threat?


	7. 1 July 2014

So I’ve been thinking about patterns recently and that led me somehow to Destiel–probably the fic I just finished reading. (This is something like 1500 words. This got very out of hand.) 

So, basically, if you ask my math teachers, they’ll probably tell you I’m kind of weirdly good with patterns. I mean, in elementary school, I tested into ALP through pattern recognition stuff and I get all kinds of weird questions right through what looks like a crazy guess (and is actually mostly insane intuition).

Basically, I’m good at patterns. I can recognize that one is there and I can figure out where it’s going based on the evidence.

This, obviously, led me to Dean.

There are several casual viewer assumptions about Dean: he’s a womanizer, a man’s man, and (at least a bit of) an alcoholic.

I’m even going to say these were true at one point. Fandom is insistent on Dean’s nerdiness, his compassion, and all the deeper an more lovable qualities–they’re also right, by the way–but the thing is, it’s a matter of progression.

In the beginning, Dean was young. He was a hunter, living the life. He lived a life with few regrets and no real expectation of a long life. He played fast and loose and did whatever he wanted to.

This Dean didn’t see the point of settling down and definitely didn’t want an apple pie life, not like Sam did. He was happy with his beer, his women, his job.

But then, the apocalypse happened. All of a sudden, Dean was responsible for more than just Sam. Around the apocalypse, the drinking spikes, but (if I’m not mistaken, it has been a while) the womanizing starts to drop off a bit. Unpopular opinion it may be, but Castiel turning up at this point in his life is actually a coincidence. It could have been Anna. It could have been anyone.

Basically, Dean starts to notice his need for some kind of stability. The world is ending and he needs something to hold onto. Something reliable. Sam is not the best choice given their new track record and, well, Cas has never really lied to him. (Not yet.)

When Cas leaves him all alone–Dean has never known how to ask for what he _wants_ –Dean goes back to Lisa. He promised his brother and he’s still craving stability. Dean’s issue here, the reason it doesn’t work, is a combintion of factors.

First off, Dean quit too soon. There was no gradual lessening of jobs. He just cut the engine when he was pushing 90 and expected to come to a complete stop. That’s not how cars work and that’s not how Dean works.

Second off, Dean tried to gain stability from a person _and_ a place. Dean has been living a transient lifestyle since he was four and Lisa’s home was not his home. He needed stability from a person, but the opportunity to keep traveling to find a place that was _his_.

And then Sam came back and it was really no wonder that Dean dove right back into the thick of it. By the end of season six he’s back into the swing of things, but his womanizing has dropped. He flirts, but we never get shots of him coming in late or leaving with a woman. It’s pretty much all business all the time.

And of course, season seven is where is drinking spikes again. (This is the season where I thought, “oh, they weren’t kidding.” Because even if Dean wasn’t _in_ love with Cas, by this point he did absolutely love him.) Dean has faced a betrayal by the only person he thought he could still rely on—was anyone else really hurt by how often he insisted that Cas was innocent, that Cas would never? because I was absolutely hurt.)

In season seven, I would actually like to issue a challenge: find a point before the shojo where he goes for ten minutes of screentime without a drink—from a beer bottle, a flask, what have you. Dean pretty much avoids women in season seven. He does have that stint with the Amazon, which pretty much ends his womanizing altogether. And I am sure there are paragraphs of meta on how Dean took losing his daughter and I just don’t have the space or the heart to deal with that right now.

Dean did meet Garth this season and Garth is a major boost for Dean’s morale. Garth is still unfailingly kind and optimistic. He’s neck deep in the life, but he’s still himself. He’s very genuine and he never sees cause to lie to people—why should he? He believes in the best of humanity and Dean is probably jealous, but he definitely needs more of Garth in his life. Charlie falls into this category as well.

And by the time Dean finds and loses Cas again, he’s started to recover. He has a goal and he’s finally stopped drinking half as much as he was right after he lost Cas (there are scenes where he’s taking swigs from that flask as he’s driving _Baby_ , so I think it’s fair to assume he was drunk at least 90% of the time) but he’s still hurt. There’s no closure for what he had with Cas.

And then we hit Purgatory which I think was actually really beneficial for Dean. He said it felt pure and, well, that’s the point of the place. Purgatory purifies souls before they move on to Heaven. Dean was able to cut out everything unnecessary. He didn’t have to worry about Sam or anyone but himself. And he was able to acknowledge his own wants and needs re: Cas. Because they may simply be best friends, but frankly? Dean going after anyone, thereby putting off returning to Sam? That’s a freaking huge deal for Dean. Dean went after Cas because there was unfinished _stuff_ there. And Cas was Dean’s friend. He cared deeply for him and, speaking for myself, if I were trapped in Purgatory and knew one of mine was still trapped there? I wouldn’t rest until they were back by my side. (Of course, I’m of a mind that Dean has more than just friendly feelings for Cas, but that’ll be dealt with in time.)

Meeting Benny was another good thing for Dean. Benny was a reminder that life is full of shades of gray and that Dean _could_ trust people again. Because Dean does trust Benny (after he saves Cas). And I’m still sad that Dean had to lose that connection, but Benny had no one but Dean after the season eight nonsense, so I get him going back. (And Dean has to lose everything one last time to build himself back up.)

Season eight was a sort of adjustment period. Dean was a lot more honest with himself and allowed himself things he wanted a lot more often. He spent some time geeking out with Charlie, helping her let go, etc. And frankly, Dean wants to be more like Charlie. (Everyone should want to be more like Charlie.)

Season nine? Ripped all that progress away. And I know there are a lot of people upset about that, but Dean can’t be happy until he figures out what he wants and that he’s _allowed to want things_. He spent all of season nine missing Cas horribly. His absence was _notable_. I mean, there were episodes where his absence was like a _wound_ and we are not the only ones who felt it.

Cas was absent because, well, absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? Dean and Cas were asked several times about what they wanted, where they wanted to be, who they were, and each time, the answers were left unsaid. Because we are more than capable of filling them in. (There has been a meta on this, the importance of absences in narratives and art. I might still have it tagged.)

Dean becoming a demon is actually the best thing that could happen to him. He’s been skimming the bottom for a long time, years even, but this is it for him. He could not fall farther than he already had. He is at the bottom of rock bottom and the only way out from here is up.

And when he’s back to human, he’s going to have to renegotiate a lot of things, a lot of relationships. He needs to have a very honest discussion with his brother. And he and Cas have a lot to talk about, a lot of issues to work through. And if they’re ever going to become canon? It’s going to be then. And I, for one, am looking forward to it.

I, for one, have total faith in this progression.


	8. 10 August 2014

My only real question about season ten is: Who gets to share blood with Dean? Sam or Castiel?

If Sam, it could finally even the playing field. They could finally call it quits. (Bonus: the gates of Hell would (probably?) close because he finally did the thing. Maybe he dies, maybe he lives, but the thing is done. Closure.)

If Castiel, he’d get to raise Dean from perdition once more. Bonus: Castiel would have to be human again and not an angel to do this. (I’m big on human Cas, shhh.)  
And, you know, this would be an awesome lead in to canon Destiel: “Frankly, Dean, I’d rather have you. Cursed or not." And then, you know, they cry, they kiss, they drive off in the Impala together, content ever after.

But they’re probably going to have it be Sam, to close the gates. Finally. (I mean, unless they want Sam to definitely be safe, but??? Who knows. We’re still trusting things we learned from Metatron, my favorite villain, so we’re probably not acting all that rationally anymore anyway. We’ve only heard it from Metatron that Sam dies at the end of the trials. And I was under the impression that the wording was vague, but whatever.)

And, mark my words, we have NOT seen the end of Metatron. I get that he "doesn’t understand what he read” but that guy was playing the part to a T, I mean, full stops the classic movie villain. Like, he admitted it himself at one point. (“He has a weakness! He’s in love… with humanity!" Like yeah, dude, we learn the hero has a weakness, not the villain. Villains don’t do love. Never. Not in this kind of story.)

Basically, this guy has Team Free Will right where he wants them and he LEARNED FROM PAST MISTAKES. Winchesters will walk right into some stupid shit, but they’re stubborn as all get out. You can’t make them do anything. But if they think it was THEIR IDEA? Well. You could convince them to do _anything_.


End file.
